But Cruz and his "boomstick" had other ideas and on Friday night at Angel Stadium, he slugged his sixth home run in the past nine games in a 6-5 loss to the Angels to put him at 39 on the year with two days to go.
"It looks like he's up there just trying to hit homers, but that's not his focus," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "He told me a week ago, 'I'm not worried about that. I'm just going to have good at-bats.' He's got the kind of swing and is so strong that if he does have good at-bats and squares it up, good things are going to happen.